Samoa

Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands, two smaller, inhabited islands, and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands. Samoa is located 64 km west of American Samoa, 889 km northeast of Tonga, 1,152 km northeast of Fiji, 483 km east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 km southeast of Tuvalu, 519 km south of Tokelau, 4,190 km southwest of Hawaii, and 610 km northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity.